Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-02-23

! 1t is wonderful in its varied movements,
and remarkably adapted TO its important
duties.
There is an old illustration that is full of
force, showing the Divine origin of man.
Far away from civilization, on remote
island in the Pacific Ocean, native Is
walking on the beach and picks up gold
watch. He admires the shining case, the
clear crystal, the white face with its strange
looking figures. The watch is running
and the savage listens with awe to the
ticking, and opening it is filled with won
der at the smooth movements of the CON-
plicated and delcately wrought machinery.
He does not know its use, and has no idea
of its value in the measurement Of time.
He is familiar with many OF the forms ol
vegetable and animal lie, but this is some
thing new and strange, more wonderful
than anything he has dreamed of. He be-
gins TO think that there lives somewhere a
VERY SUPERIOR BEING
with master mind to plan, and a skilitnl
hand TO make this wonderful thing. II
seems to me that if we stop and consider
the beauties and wonders of the organ OF
sight, We are brought to the same con
clusiOn that was reached in the untutored
mind of the savage that there must exist
a superior and Supreme Being who only
could construct anything 30 wonderful
and perfect as the human eye.
Being such delicate and important or
gans the eyes are well protected from
injury. They are deep set in cavities
whose walls are formed OF strong bone
The projecting roof of the forehead
keeps them safe from blows from
above. The eyebrows serve the purpose
of catching dust and cinders. The well
lubncated lids also afford good protection,
and we involuntarily wink TO keep out a
flying bug or cinder, ~ well rs to carry
off the tears through the little ducts III the
inner corners.
THEIR CONSTRUCTION.
Although some people seem TO have very
| large eyes and some very small ones, they
are pretty nearly all of one size, and all
perfect eyes ale Just about one inch III
diameter. The large cavity that contains
| the ball is filled in with 4 soft cushion oi
fat that gives the eye an easy bed and
yielding support. The front of the eye
is the cornca, named from word
that means horn, for clear as it
is, it is quite tough and capable of stand
ing good deal, at the same time being
the most sensitive aud delicate part of the
body. 1t is set on the front of the eye
ball exactly as crystal is set in q watch,
and serves largely the same purpose
There are three coats TO the eye the tough
white coat on the outside called the
sclerotic, which means white The middle
coating is called the chordid, named from
its resemblance to the skin from its num-
that nearly all the blood vessels of the eye
are contained. These, with the black
pigment, make ii 40 dark,
and it acts like the black
cloth which the photographer throws
over his camera The inner coat is the
retina, named from net, for il is 4 thin,
transparent, veil-like substance. II is del
icate and sensitive to the rays of light, for il
is really only the thin, expanded tibres of
the optic nerve, which enters at the back OF
the eve from the brain The iris is the part
of the eye that gives it distinctive color,
rs blue, grey, brown, etc. Iris means rain
DOW, dllil u ~ htll lbl
ful cOlors Of the iris in most eyes resemble
the varying hues of the rainbow more than
anything else. The pupil, or as il is more
commonly called, the sight OF the eye, " is
around opening in the iris. The pupil is
intended to serve ~ an opening 10 admit
the light, End it is constantly changing in
SIZE according to the light it is exposed to.
r,t-Srs ,p nEEr,vTIrP ITGIpE
A noted German oculist, who must
have been an atheist, once said that If his
instrument maker would send him an in-
strument as imperfect as the average
human eye he would send it back and
have him make better one. But our
eyes have become imperfect because We
have misused them and made them 80.
There are three causes of defective vision,
far sightedness or long sight, near sight
edness or short sight, and astigmatism,
which is a hard word for defect that is
Just as hard 10 understand or explain.
These defects depend on the shape
of the eye. If the ball is perfect in shape
the rays will fall directly on the retina. II
the bail is too short the image falls back Of
the retina; and il is too long, it will fall in
front of the retina. A short eye, then,
makes long sight, long eye makes short
sight, and an astigmatic eye makes bad
sight at all distances. Far sigbtedness IL
generally hereditary, near sightedn6ss is
hereditary, too, but may be caused by
over use OF the eyes. When thus caused IL
generally comes during the school age,
from to IL, and keeps increasing up tO
-. The German nation il the most culti-
waited and most studiOus in the world, aud
rs a result, Germans are largely near
sighted.
WHY PEOPLE WEAR GLASSES.
You often hear asked, why do 20 many
persons especially children, wear glasses
nowadays" There are several good rea-
sons. A great deal has been learned about
the refraction OF the eye, that is, the cor
rection of defective vision by glasses, in
the last few years, aud defects are correct
ed now that were formerly unsuspected.
As consequence of this help that is given
to the eyes by glasses statistics prove that
blindness is proportiOnately decreasing.
| There are not near so many sore eyes, cat
aracts, &c, &c, as there were formerly.
Then the eyes are called on now to do
more work that any period Of the worlds
history. The sewing machine and similar
inventions lessen the work Of the hand only
TO add to that Of the eye. New employ
ments, new amusements and new fashions
are constantly coming into vogue that add
to the work and strain Of the delicate and
sensitive eye.
Our advanced civilization, long courses of
study, cheap forms Of literature, enormous
circulation Of the daily newspapers, many
of them badly printed on poor paper, the
increasing use Of artificial illumination,
thus extending the hours Of eye work; all
these things combine TO make detective
sight 50 common, and cause spectacles to
be plenty As blaekbeTies.
SOME USEFUL HINTS.
After glancing imperfectly at the anatO-
my and nhy si0l0pv of thA eve yau ran ALI